NAACP St. Louis adds Special School District to literacy crisis complaint

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The St. Louis NAACP has amended a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, adding the Special School District of St. Louis County to a list of local districts they identify as experiencing a literacy crisis among African-American children.

The Special School District of St. Louis County says it is the largest specialized education provider in the state of Missouri, offering education to students with disabilities across 22 public school districts.

The NAACP amended its complaint Thursday to include the Special School District. The group says, according to state testing data from a State Performance Plan report, more than half of children that SSD provides reading services to over the course of a school year regress, rather than improve, in literacy.

“The SSD is responsible for providing reading services for SSD students in partner-districts,
particularly those in North County which have the greatest literacy needs among all SSD students,” said Adolphus M. Pruitt, President of the St. Louis City NAACP, via a news release. “Additionally, the SSD is responsible for providing systematic reviews/analysis of student progress data which would allow the SSD to determine which reading interventions are having the greatest impact.”

The NAACP submitted the original complaint on Aug. 19.

The St. Louis NAACP president previously stated the organization will continue to monitor statistics to see if changes will be made and say if not, they will continue to fight this issue with the U.S. Board of Education and Office of Civil Rights.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.